With the internal security challenges facing Nigeria since the inception of this administration, many thought the end of Nigeria was near. In this piece, Kenneth Azahan writes on how Abba Moro, the interior minister and the man in charge of many aspects of internal security has discharged his duties
Comrade Abba Moro, minister of interior and the de facto head of internal security can be described as a war-time minister. He has probably experienced the worst internal security situation since Nigeria’s independence. Whether he envisaged this situation, before assumption of office or not, nobody could say.
But, the good news is that he has been able to, with the support of his employer, President Jonathan rise above these challenges.
Created in 1957, the Ministry of Interior was formally called Internal Affairs Ministry with the mandate to fostering and ensuring the maintenance of internal security and citizenship integrity for the promotion of good governance of the nation. It has statutory responsibility for the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes, which include registration of voluntary organisations, issuance of expatriate quota allocation, permit for foreign participation and National Day Celebration, National Flag and National Coat of Arms. It also takes care of the coordination of all issues of the Nigeria Prisons Service, coordination of all issues of the Nigeria Immigrations Service; issues relating to immigration and visa; passport and travel documents; movements of aliens in the country and repatriation of aliens; Coordination of all issues relating to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and coordination of all issues relating to the Federal Fire Service, FFS.
On assumption of office in 2011, Abba Moro initiated a new Automation of expatriate quota administration as Private Public Partnership, PPP, to ease long delay processing of Citizenship, Business permits and Expatriate Quota administration, which has reduced the use of paper works to the barest minimum and also totally eradicated contact between the applicants and officials.
A new visa regime has also come on board under Moro, which is targeted at a veritable tool for achieving the transformation agenda of President Jonathan and the Vision 2020. The policy is meant to quicken economic development, create jobs and boost tourism, allow business men and top management staff of multinational organisation to get visa at the point of entry.
Similarly, the new policy allows the citizens of countries with which Nigeria has visa agreements to be issued entry visa at the points of entry.
Another policy introduced by the Moro-led Interior ministry which has received accolades is the e-passport initiative. The policy which is of international best practice now placed the country on a higher rating and ensure the integrity of the Nigerian passports. It has also made it so easy to issue passport within three days compared to what it used to be. Today, both Nigerians at home and in Diaspora now feel secured with a sense of identity and pride.
Another policy worth mentioning is the new border management policy which the ministry has entered into with a Chinese company for the acquisition of ICT equipment to effectively manage the country’s border. By this, it will not be business as usual for illegal aliens who come into the country through illegal routs which the ministry has already identified.
The Finger Print Bio-Metric Policy of the Minister is introduced to ascertain the identity of passport holders and to reduce abuse of compromising the automated Finger Print Identification system which captures four fingers.
To reduce the tendency of migrants getting involved in terrorism in the country, the ministry has provided Automated Immigration Passenger Clearance System in all the International Airports in the country.
An Automated Fire Alert System has also been introduced in partnership with a private organisation under PPP arrangement, designed and lunched which activate and alert house owner as soon as fire smoke is detected.
In addition, a national Fire Safety Code was also launched with the main purpose of reducing fire outbreaks to ensure the safety of live and properties from fire hazards.
To reduce minimally, cases of jail breaks across the country, which has become frequent as result of activities of insurgent in the country, the government has also signed an MOU with a Nigerian-based Chinese firm to collaborate and implement an e-prison programme to boost prison surveillance and security through prison Information Management System initiative.
A critical look at the Interior Ministry shows that it has no capacity to handle the internal security expected of it by the thinking of ordinary Nigerians. The ministry, without police and customs, comprises Immigration Service saddled with the responsibility of immigrants and emigrants of the country. The Prison Service is in charge of convicted and condemned criminals, and the rehabilitation of suspects and convicts. Federal Fire Service; entrusted with the duties of quick response to fire disasters, saving lives and property, and the Civil Defence check-mates any civil unrest in the country, watching federal government properties and arrest of vandals.
Of all these afore-mentioned services, none is well to do, in terms of capacity to function effectively. Nigerian borders are as porous as freeways. Nigerian Prisons cannot be called rehabilitation centres, rather it is a place where criminals become experts when released.
Nigerian Federal Fire Service is just so called, going by the recent lamentations of Engr. Olusegun Okebiorun, the Comptroller General of FFS, over lack of basic equipment to carry out their duties.
One of the giant strides taken by his administration is in border control, where about 10,401 Nigeriens, Beninious, Cameroonians and nationals of other countries were refused entry into the country on various suspicions while 8,337 Nigeriens were also repatriated.
The ministry was able to identify 1,497 illegal routes and 84 regular routes into the country which has helped the government to enter into agreements with all the neighbouring countries and ECOWAS on joint border control.
In order to address the problem of external attack on prison formations across the country, several modern prison buildings are being constructed. For example, a block to accommodate 212 inmates has been constructed in Kano Central Prison and a block for 136 inmates was also completed at Aba prison while Kaduna, Nsukka, Ibadan and Numan are at various stages of completion, in addition to a new prison yard which was completed and commissioned at Yenagoa, Bayelsa state early this year.
Moreover, the Prison Service under his administration has also installed signal modems in 22 prison formations across the country to forestall future prison break. Also, a comprehensive inmate’s database has been created in all the state commands and zonal offices as well as provision of critical equipment such as metal detectors, concealable bullet proof vest and protective gear for operatives among others, to ensure safety of inmates and prevent the nation prisons from incessant attacks.
The ground breaking ceremony of the Para-military Village housing scheme development project at Kyami District recently is another achievement that the minister can be proud of. The ceremony was performed by President Jonathan. The initiative was conceived to enhance the welfare of Para-military officers under his supervision in partnership with a private developer to provide decent housing across the country for the officers.
To totally put an end to cases of recruitment racketeering, ensure transparency and efficiency in recruitment into the Para-military services under his supervision, the Interior ministry has now arranged to provide an e-recruitment platform to handle all recruitment into the services.
Already, the consultant has developed a new portal for that purpose. The new portal which is registered with Galaxy Backbone under the domain name cdfipb.gov.ng is now the only recognised portal for recruitment purposes in the ministry.
The Moro-led Interior ministry has achieved a lot, most especially in capacity building, Human capacity development and Acquisition of various equipments for the Services to function well.
The ministry is not without challenges and the most important one, when one considers its mandates and role in addressing the prevailing security challenges in the country, is underfunding. Not only that, some of the Acts, regulating the activities of the Services, under this ministry, are totally obsolete, begging for the attention of the National Assembly.
The ministry has also suggested that alternative punishment to prison terms for offenders be introduced into the system and also address the problem of slow justice to achieve the desired reformation of inmates and problem of prison congestion.